Conventional magnetic recording and reading devices, such as hard disk drives, optical drives, etc., are optimized for many parameters to run at various temperatures and operating conditions. The allowable temperatures and conditions may be visualized as windows of operation where the conditions and temperatures allow for consistently superior performance. These windows of operation have been getting smaller and smaller due to difficulties associated with areal density, such as a super-paramagnetic limit, size constraints, tolerances, process control limitations, etc. Operation of magnetic devices at cold temperatures, as an example, often requires additional write-ability of a magnetic recording head, and at higher temperatures is capable of writing in a manner which limits the thermal instability of a magnetic recording medium. In addition, surplus write current which is used for higher write-ability usually induces large thermal protrusion of write poles, which is equivalent to lower thermal fly-height control (TFC) power, which often results in poor head-disk interface (HDI) reliability, even at low temperatures.
Some attempts have been made at correcting for these issues. In one scheme to improve the write-ability of a magnetic recording head, a localized AC field is applied at adequate frequency to the medium using a spin torque oscillator (STO). This scheme is referred to as microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR). However, it is very difficult to generate a localized AC field at microwave frequencies in a stable and reliable enough manner to assist high density magnetic recording in a thermally stable medium using a STO. Because an injected current density necessary to generate an appropriate AC field at microwave frequencies to assist high density magnetic recording is too high, such as 108-109 A/cm2, stable and reliable operation is often prevented using this scheme due to electro-migration.
In order to improve upon the record density of magnetic media, discrete track media (DTM) and bit patterned media (BPM) have been developed. In DTM, adjacent recording tracks are separated by slots, grooves, or a non-magnetic material, such as alumina, which controls or causes the magnetic interference between the adjacent tracks to be reduced or eliminated. In BTM, adjacent recorded bits are separated by grooves or non-magnetic material and the magnetic interference between the adjacent bits is reduced or prevented. However, there are still problems with each of these recording schemes.
In DTM recording, concave-convex processing is given to a magnetic layer, such as by dry etching, etc. After that, the slot between adjacent tracks is filled with a non-magnetic material. During this processing, there is a possibility that read-write (RW) characteristics of the media may deteriorate quickly, such as from corrosion that is due to damage to the magnetic layer that is suffered at the time of the processing. Other factors may also lead to a deterioration of the RW characteristics of the magnetic media due to the processing. With conventional magnetic recording media where no patterning or discrete tracks are formed, corrosion inhibition is improved by using lubricants which include triazoles. Furthermore, the formation of lubricating films in which perfluoropolyether and corrosion inhibitors are used conjointly on patterned media and the formation of lubricating films in which heterocycles which have a corrosion inhibiting action are included in a perfluoropolyether have also been suggested.
In another attempt to improve upon the record density of magnetic media, thermal assisted recording (TAR) has been developed. In TAR, the magnetic recording media surface is locally heated above about 300° C., such as by laser light, in the presence of an applied magnetic field, which reduces the magnetic coercive force and makes it easier to magnetically record data. However, during this process there is a possibility that any lubricant on the surface may suffer from heat decomposition, and overall evaporation of the lubricant may be accelerated.